China files addendum to WTO Section 301 case

The addendum filed on July 16 restarts the 60-day clock before consultations can move into dispute settlement.    China last week submitted an addendum to its April 4 request for World Trade Organization consultations over U.S. duties implemented pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, according to a WTO official.
   The addendum filed July 16 includes the United States’ July 10 publication of a list of 6,031 tariff subheadings that would be subject to additional tariffs of 10 percent, the official said. Those subheadings cover about $200 billion worth of U.S. imports from China in 2017 value.
   Submission of the addendum resets the 60-day clock that must expire before the consultation request may pass on to formal adjudication by a WTO dispute panel at the request of any party to the case.
   If consultations don’t resolve China’s concerns by the end of Sept. 14, the case may be escalated to dispute resolution.
   China’s addendum says that the proposed duties would be in excess of U.S. bound rates in its Schedule of Concessions and Commitments annexed to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1994).
   China is alleging that implemented and planned U.S. Section 301 tariffs appear to be inconsistent with WTO rules including GATT 1994 Article II.1(a) and (b) because the measures don’t accord subject goods treatment no less favorable than that provided for in the United States’ Schedule of Concessions and Commitments annexed to the GATT 1994, according to the consultation request.
   China also claims that the United States is in violation of Article 23 of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) because the U.S. made a determination to the effect that a violation has occurred without recourse to dispute settlement in accordance with the DSU and the measures at issue fail “to recourse to, and abide by, the rules and procedures of the DSU.”
   The consultation request continues: “In addition, and as a consequence of the foregoing, the measures at issue appear to nullify or impair benefits accruing to China directly or indirectly under the cited agreements.”
   President Donald Trump during an interview aired Friday on CNBC said he’s ready to impose tariffs on essentially all goods the U.S. imports from China, after China vowed to retaliate against the United States’ planned $200 billion worth of tariffs.
   The U.S. imported $505 billion worth of goods from China last year, while China only imported $130 billion worth from the United States.
   “We’re ready to go to 500,” Trump said during the interview.
   Asked about potential political fallout associated with imposing tariffs on that many goods and potential subsequent stock market losses, Trump said, “I’m not doing this for politics; I’m doing this to do the right thing for our country. We have been ripped off by China for a long time.”
   The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative-led interagency Section 301 Committee on Tuesday will hold a hearing at the International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., on proposed tariffs across $16 billion worth of Chinese goods across 284 tariff lines, and will hold another hearing on the tariffs proposed against $200 billion worth of Chinese goods at the ITC Aug. 20 to 23.
   The U.S. implemented a first round of Section 301 tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods from China in 2017 import value on July 6.